Specialized progressive and organizer jargon can create social distance and deter everyday people from engaging in political conversation. Public-facing Democrats are advised to favor plain, familiar words over therapy-speak, seminar-room language, or organizer terminology that signals elite sensibilities. Many voters avoid participation out of fear of cancellation, doxing, workplace consequences, or simple misunderstanding of unfamiliar terms. Clear, relatable phrasing reduces perceived risk, lowers barriers to communication, and increases trust among working-class, moderate, and undecided voters. Replacing insider language with ordinary vocabulary aims to expand political coalitions and facilitate open conversations on difficult topics.
Whatever your intentions, when you refer to a pregnant woman as a 'birthing person' or a felon as a 'justice-involved individual,' you are not growing the tent, you're making it smaller.
The aim," Bennett said, "is to help persuade public-facing allies - mostly elected officials and candidates, but also advocates - to use words their high school classmates use ... Just talk like a normal person, for chrissakes.
a red flag for a sizable segment of the American public. It is not because they are bigots, but because they fear cancellation, doxing, or trouble with HR if they make a mistake. Or they simply don't understand what these terms mean and become distrustful of those who use them. So instead, they keep quiet.
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